Qinetiq recently said it is working with the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD) to establish a new Unmanned Air Systems Capability Development Center (UASCDC) to support the rapid development of unmanned air systems (UAS) programs from concept to deployment.
Announced during the Farnborough International Air Show’s Future Defense Technologies conference, officials said the new Centre would be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom and be fully operational by April 2013.
Dai Morris, MoD’s Head of Capability for Joint Training, Evaluation and Simulation, said, “The UASCDC is an important initiative to provide access to independent, informed and holistic UAS advice and solutions. My intention is that it will serve the widest possible audience, from researchers to operators across MoD, industry and ultimately other government departments.”
During a briefing, Qinetiq UASCDC Account Director Fiona Lewinton said, “Alongside the MoD, we are implementing a new approach so that we can combine our people’s in-depth understanding of air vehicle engineering, release-to-service, integration of command and control and communications systems, and above all safety, with that of the full range of suppliers. This combined approach will allow new UAS capabilities to be brought to life more efficiently and effectively than before.”
The point of the new center is to help maintain the United Kingdom as a world leader in unmanned aerial systems by facilitating the bringing together of defense and industry expertise to provide capability that can be used throughout any program.
The MoD wants to maximize the efficiencies of UAS procurements ensuring safe, effective, deployable and interoperable UAS are brought into service.
The Center would support MoD with the aim of providing an agile corporate memory to help interested parties identify existing expertise, knowledge and facilities so as to make it easier to conduct initial program planning and accelerate project achievement.
As envisioned, Qinetiq officials said the Center would aim to: communicate best practices to support the maximum re-use of data and lessons learned and coordinate the provision of common enablers such as access to air ranges and airspace that would help the ministry buy once and use many times.
Additionally the center would expect to influence the definition of test and training policies and implementation; accelerate technology insertion through the maximum re-use of expertise, simulation and other capabilities to support experimentation and demonstration; and facilitate engagement between industry and the MoD to make the best use of collective expertise and facilities.